why would any one take him? his spec rule makes him not worth the 30 points :/

With a courage value of 5 you have a 83,33% chance of passing a courage test. Which means his special rule is rarely an issue, and you can always keep him a bit away from your army just in case.

His most important contribution to an army is the fact that he can lead a warband for only 30 points! That's even cheaper than a Goblin Captain. Combine him with Damrod and Beregond and you get a Gondor swarm army in no time! Maybe even keeping some points open for Aragorn the King for example.

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MEMM I: 4th (Mordor+Harad) MEMM II: 4th (Galadhrim) MEMM III: 2nd (Thorin's Company)

but that 17% can influence so much into a game.

The only real danger with him is against a ringwraith, who can knock down his courage. Remember, he has a high will stat too, which helps with courage tests. With his captain-esque stats and lack of might, he's not going to destroy your army in one turn if he fails a test.

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"Release the Kragle!"
They were waiting 45 minutes to make that pun.
Totally worth it.

In all the games I've used him, a number beyond reckoning, he's only failed his test a maximum of three times. And the worst effect of that was losing a Galadhrim Warrior to his outburst of insanity (curse you Southy... ).

Broken Mind really isn't as bad as people think it is. A relatively high courage and decent amount of will points means that he'll rarely fail it.

And as others have said, Denethor is one of the key leaders for a horde Minas Tirith army. If memory serves I had around 75 models on the board for an 1000pt game using Gondor... that rivals a goblin horde!

Sure, he isn't an amazing army-destroying hero like his son. But he brings more numbers to the field and isn't too bad a combatant if you use him well. Don't overlook the mad king

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Soon the Dark Lord Knighty shall have all he needs to cover the lands in an eevee-related darkness...

Gandalf can boost his will up which is useful!

Can't argue with 2A 2W for 30 points. Decent Defence aswell. I've used hm several times, never failed a Courage test. Absolute bargin.

That said, I remember one of the Battle Reports in BGiME where he opened the gate fromt he inside during the siege of Minas Tirith, letting about 3 Trolls n befor it could be shut again...

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Sun is by sea-men always hoped for,
when they fare away over the fishes' bath,
until the brine-stallion they bring to land.
OERP

I played against him tonight. My Cousin forgot to roll his courage test for the first three turns, and he passed all the rest! He killed an orc and a couple of Harad spearmen. He is useful as a cheap hero allowing you to field more troops, especially as Boromir of the White Tower was leading the army who is somewhat expensive.